The document summarizes the history of translation in English literature from ancient times to the 20th century. It notes that the development of translation differed in the Western world compared to the Arab world. Some key events and periods mentioned include the Septuagint translation from Hebrew to Greek in the 3rd-1st centuries BC, Geoffrey Chaucer's translations in the 14th century, the importance of the printing press and developments in translation theories in the 15th-16th centuries, the use of translation as a political and religious weapon in the 16th century, John Dryden seeking to make authors "speak as if they were living Englishmen" in the 17th century, omitting parts not understood by translators in the

1. HISTORY OF TRANSLATION IN
ENGLISH LITERATURE
Ami Sojitra
amisojitra23@gmail.com

2. History of Translation In
English Literature
When we talk about literature there are
few things which we must notice: Example
1. Theories and name of
any period
2. Each ear has specific
Changes
 And these changes used
to be different from one
place to another
 The Development of
translation of western
world is different from
ArabWorld
 Some incidents gave birth
to different theories
 So it will be different from
one place to another

3. English Translation- The
beginning
 The first translation in
west was Septuagint-
collection of Hebrew
scripture
 Translated between 3rd
to 1st BC.
 Jewish has forgotten
their ancestral
language and scripture
so it was to remind
them.

4. English Translation in 14th
Century
 Geoffrey Chaucer has done finest translation in
14th century
 The first greatTranslation was Wycliffe's Bible
but it has weakness of under developed English
prose. Western
Theories
Ideologies
of
translation
Bible
remained
as conflict

5. Translation in 15th -16th
Century
 Invention of printing
press has helped a lot
in translation and
theorists.
 The Elizabethan period
of translation has
considerable progress
 It was an ideal of
stylistic equivalence

6. Translation in 16th Century
In 16th century one event has lead the
translation of Bible:
“Translation come to be used as weapon in both dogmatic
and political conflicts. As nation and state and
centralization of church started to weaker evidence in
linguistic term by the decline of Latin as the Universal
Language”
Prose translation began with
Thomas Malory's- Le Morte D’Arthur
(an adaption of Arthurian Romance)

7. Translation in 17th century
 In 17th Century John
Dryden(1631-1700)
sought madeVirgil
speaks:
 “His works such as he
would have probable
written as if he were
living as an English
Man”
 Even many writers like
John Dryden, John
Denham, Abraham
Cowley etc.
Abraham
Cowley
Metaphase
(Word for
Word)
Paraphrase
(Meaning
based)
Imitation
(copy)

8. Translation in 18th Century
 Following things were
omitted:
1. Which bored the reader
2. The translator did not
understand
 Translator considered as
an artist
 Even with the
enhancement of new
theories and volumes on
translation process , it has
become systematic

9. Translation in 19th century
Change in Romantic poetry
Rubaiyat Omar Al Khayyam-
Edward Fitzgerald
 Now in standard of
accuracy and style and
policy, policy became
 “The text , the whole text
and nothing but the text”
 TheVictorian literature has
Metaphor and Pseudo-
Metaphor which made
reader remind of classic
text

10. Translation in 20th Century
 Study of translation
has become an
important in language
teaching and learning
at school
 A new pattern was set
by Benjamin Jowett
who translated Plato in
simple language

11. At the End……..
 In the westTranslation
has such a wide and rich
history from the
beginning.
 Translation is subject of
varieties for researchers
and conflict between
theories.
 Each theorist gave new
method and change the
method.

12. THANK YOU